An Age Of Total War, The Age Of The Omniverse

[Sarah Kerrigan]

Since Okor did something similar with Dominions, I figured I'd make a thread for Total War since that's just a thing in my life now.

The basics are simple: This is a suggestion-based playthough of Total War Warhammer:

In other words, you guys help dictate the stratagem of this campaign, and I will use pictures and text to inform you of how our progress goes.


For those interested, here's all the technical stuff regarding mods I'm going to use:
-No March stance (Should shorten how long it actually takes to do all the battles and because Keep-away with the AI isn't fun in the first place)
-Stupid Campaign Agents(Let's not get our favorite people assassinated on a percentage chance coin flip)
-Bretonnia faction mod(if we use the faction)
-Permanent Retinues (this is just my preference)
-Unjustly Harsh (tiny balance thing, rebalances some campaign traits)
-fanatic fix (fixes a bug where night goblin fanatics don't have upgrades applied correctly

other than that, probably won't have too many mods for our first time (unless a bunch of people push for one but I find it unlikely)



Anyways, the rules for what you can suggest are basically non-existent though I'll try to go with the general feel and votes of the omniverse group.


Before we start though, we have to choose a race, of course!

The choices are:

-The Empire:




A group of humans who long ago, with dwarven help, learned the secrets of gunpowder and steel. these are the "main" human faction in Total War Warhammer(and the only one playable in Vanilla), the empire is probably the friendliest faction, and utilizes a bunch of 17th century esque tech. If we pick this faction, expect a lot of diplomacy options and some cool magic, along with stuff like Halberdiers and swordsman, musketmen, armor-clad knights, and potentially armor-clad tanks.
also a magic laser maybe.

-Dwarfs



The only nation with more cannons than the empire, the Dwarves are the other "good" vanilla faction. They have pretty much every stereotypical dwarven thing they can, Dwarves with Axes and hammers and ridiculous amounts of armor, combined with cannons, rifle-wielders, Gyrocopters, and flamethrowers/flame cannons. their units are solid and their artillery is good, but they are without cavalry and are generally slow.
They also boast the biggest tech tree and the most ways to fortify and improve the holds they take over. as a result if we take these guys we'll probably be taking the defensive game and fortifying all the holds we can.

-Bretonnia



the other human nation... the French with pegasi.
no really, that's all the description I really need to give them. they are magic frenchpeople.
You want more? Fine...
This race is the other major human race, and is known for having strong cavalry(like the medieval french.). They rely on their cavalry which is incredible in this game, and their surprisingly effective-for-cost peasant archers. this is all held by a wall of spearman and shored up with yeoman for light cavalry.
(so... you know, the strategy france employs. is all I'm saying.)
They've got a lot of friends, an undead menace nearby they're required to destroy, and OP pegasus knights. they play very similarly to the empire economically, with their farms also doubling as money makers

-Vampire counts




Imagine dracula. now imagine a bunch of people that act just like dracula. that's pretty much the vampire counts. these guys are very different from most races - they require vampiric corruption around them to move on enemy soil without suffering attrition but generate it like the dickens (and it's not good for anyone that isn't undead themselves.).
Their ability to replenish units and raise new armies on the fly thanks to their "raise dead' skill is pretty goddamn good, and their magic is devastating. They've even got a bunch of flying units and other brutes to smack people with. 
On the other hand, they lack ranged units or siege units. that's a pretty big weakness for 'em.
Vampires play a somewhat slower and treacherous game - until they really get going - but they can make a lot of money and generally can wait to recruit armies until the exact moment they need one.
still, a pretty cool choice


-Greenskins


SAY IT WITH ME! 3! 2! 1! WAAAGH!
the orcs and goblins are EASILY the most aggressive race of the lot. while other races can play a somewhat defensive game, this manner of play is literally impossible for the greenskins. every individual greenskin army has a "fightiness" mechanic: if they aren't raiding or attacking constantly, they start to deteriorate as they fight themselves. on the other hand, when they DO manage to get it high enough, they can get a free army to follow them called a WAAAGH! Army for free that follows the first stack around.

These guys start off with cheap and weak armies before quickly boasting one of the strongest frontline infantry groups the game has. if we choose greenskins, expect to shoot goblins out of giant slingshots, get a few nice pictures of giants eating people, and always be fighting someone.

their cavalry is definitely far from the best, though, they lack proper spearmen to deal with masses of cavalry, and their infrastructure's pretty close to non-existent. The green tide's about fightin', and winnin', but not so much about buildin'.



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so those are our race choices for now. vote for the one you want us to play, and then we can get started on our conquest of the old world!

[Erik Vrell]

Vampires

[Corporal Light]

You must have your first starting move involve making your units run around in a huge circle.

[Okor]

I'd say Orcs. They're always fun, after all.

[Jade Harley]

I'd say Orcs. They're always fun, after all.

Seconded!

[ElFailzalot]

Vampires

MAKING THIS A TIED VOTE AGAIN IN THE NAME OF UNHOLY MONSTROSITIES OF THE NIGHT

[Omni]

Between those, it's gotta be orcs. Actually, I can't think of any race we all, as a site, would likely enjoy more than orcs.

[Sarah Kerrigan]

Well, the votes have been tallied up. Since I'd rather get this going relatively quickly, the winner is Greenskins:

I'll be adding a few mods to the game(which will be updated in the description) including more skill points for high level heroes and potentially an azhag rebalance.
I'm looking to find a "no legendary lords" mod, which would allow us to do this in a more interesting fashion and would add some neat challenge.

In the case that this does not happen, We will have to have a legendary lord to start (though we don't need to recruit another afterwards and can thus stick to custom leaders later)

As a result, we have another vote for something that may or may not matter! Yaaay!



Our two choices are:

-Grimgor Ironhide


The Strongest Orc in existence. no question. Grimgor is big enough, and tough enough, to smack down most people in-game and out. He's a black orc who has never gone longer than 2 days without a fight, and none of his followers are willing to let him get to 3 for their own sakes.
He wields a cool axe called gitsnik made in a daemon forge and wears armor completely soaked in blood(that we'd have to earn).

Pros:
-Is big and cool looking
-one of the strongest lords in the game when specced to melee combat.
-gets a special banner for his black orcs to make them "Da Immortulz" which leads to him having one elite legion of soldiers (unless we lose them).
-starts off with some good units like a goblin doom diver, orc boar boyz, and a division of black orcs (which are among the best troops in the game).
-Hard to put down

Cons:
-doesn't have an interesting levelling tree
-Can't get any of the orcish mounts, leaving us with one less potential wyvern
-his faction buff only affects black orcs
-Is the mainstream option


In the other corner we have:
Azhag the Slaughterer



Azhag is an orc with a magic crown on his head containing a dead old necromancer. said necromancer does it's best to guide Azhag on the warpath, working through his orcish stubbornness and giving him tactical aid along with some of his magic. combined with an awesome wyvern called Skullmuncha, Azhag's a pretty potent warboss in his own right.
He's also got access to a pair of blades known as Slagga's slasha's (Who Slagga is no one has a clue), and his personal 'ard armour which he steals from the french Bretonnians


Pros:
-Only orc with access to normal spells, able to use the Lore of Death to bring ruin to foes
-Also has a buffed wyvern
-starts with spider riders and buffs looting income
-his eyes glow
-The fact he is the less picked choice normally allows the power of the hipster to flow through us, bringing confidence and weird glasses

Cons:
-isn't the melee wrecking ball Grimgor is
-his face is pretty goddamn smashed even for an orc
-harder at the start
-lore of death only unlocks once we actually nab the crown from a big ol' quest chain
-his voice is silly(or is that a +)
-hipsters aren't really cool

[Okor]

GRRIIIIIMMMMGOOOOOOORRR!

[ElFailzalot]

Azhag the Slaughterer



orc with a magic crown on his head containing a dead old necromancer
-Also has a buffed wyvern
-his eyes glow
-his voice is silly

my vote pretty much casts itself. because this is a thing of beauty.

[Erik Vrell]

Azhag the Slaughterer



orc with a magic crown on his head containing a dead old necromancer
-Also has a buffed wyvern
-his eyes glow
-his voice is silly

my vote pretty much casts itself. because this is a thing of beauty.

Seconded

[Omni]

I vote to stay in the EU. Is that not an option? Ok then I vote ... neither, they both seem cool. Grimgor might be more fun to read about. But you pick whatever! TAKE MY VOTE!